Start a Blog in Just 6 Simple Steps

In this post, you learn how to “Start a Blog in Just 6 Simple Steps”! 

Have you ever dreamed about…

• … quitting your 9-5 job, leaving windowless offices, boring spreadsheets, and meetings behind?
• … supporting your family with extra income without having to spend evenings and weekends away from your kids and your partner?
• … building your own business where no one except you is the boss of you and your time?
• … working on something meaningful and fulfilling while still making money from your passion?
• … traveling the world, working from remote places, at hours that you choose?

If any of these points resonate with you, then you and I are on the exact same page! Because I’ve been there too!

Blogging has completely changed my life.

And I know it can change your life too! 

Now please hang with me here for a sec because this post isn’t about me…

It’s all about you. 

Your dream life is just around the corner! All it takes is a little faith in yourself, a good cup of coffee, a sheer endless bucket load of dedication, and you & me!

You are here, and that tells me you’re finally ready to get this thing going. To give it a shot. And I’m here to help you with that today!

I’m so happy you’re here, and we can go on this journey together!

And if you prefer a video walkthrough, you can also check my video tutorial below. Otherwise, keep reading, and let’s get this party started!!

Is Making Money with a Blog Really Possible?

So before jumping into the tutorial on how to start your first blog, I wanted to show you some screenshots of money I actually made from my blog.

Because maybe you’ve…

• Dreamed about becoming a professional blogger for a while, but you’re wondering if this all is a scam. 
• Never seen hard evidence of people actually making money from their blog, and you’re confused about how to make money online in the first place.
• Been burned before, and you’re sick and tired of people telling you how easy it is for them to make money online when you don’t seem to know how this all actually works.

First of all, I think it’s good to take everything you read online with a grain of salt. And I’m not here to tell you that making money with your blog is going to be a piece of cake. No! 

Biến blog của bạn thành một doanh nghiệp đang hoạt động thực sự là rất nhiều công việc! Nó đòi hỏi sự kiên trì, sẵn sàng học hỏi những điều mới và niềm tin! Nhưng để tôi nói với bạn, vâng, kiếm tiền từ viết blog là 100% có thể. 

I’m consistently making $1500-$3000/month solely from affiliate marketing on my blog. And that’s just one income stream. I’m also selling digital product

I learned everything about blogging and making money online myself, too, and I had zero experience when I started. 

Nhưng, nếu tôi có thể làm được thì bạn cũng có thể làm được!! Tôi biết điều đó. 

Why Start a Blog in the First Place?

Now maybe you’re not quite sure if now’s the time to start. Then let me tell you this! 

Please don’t let your fears get in the way of starting your own amazing blog and future!

I know from experience that sometimes we are our biggest critique. And what would other people think if they found out you’d started a blog. These thoughts are totally natural. I had them too! But believe me, starting a blog was the best decision I’ve ever made. 

Now, here are some objections I hear from my students and people in the comments all the time that I want you to become aware of. They might keep you stuck from just finally doing it: 

• It’s too late to start!

Nope. It’s not too late to start a blog in 2023! You’re just on time! Blogging and social media are still huge. Don’t believe the nay-sayers. According to WordPress data, over 409 million people read blogs EACH MONTH in 2020. And if you’re interested in blogging, why shouldn’t others be too. 

• I’m not tech-savvy!

It really doesn’t take a degree in IT or software engineering to start a blog! Trust me, I’ve started a blog with exactly ZERO experience. And I’m here to walk you through step by step! You can create a blog in just 15 minutes – no joke – you got this! 

• It’s too expensive to start a blog! 

Listen, yes, starting a blog the right way requires a small investment upfront. But it’s really not that much. You can get a special deal from my site to start a blog and get hosting for as little as $2.95/month! I believe your dream is worth that money. 

• Making money online with your blog is a scam!

I totally hear you; there are scammers and liars all over the internet. But please check out my screenshots above. It’s 100% possible to earn some extra $$ on the side from blogging! Yes, it requires work, but I know if you’re willing to put that in, you can do it.

Please don’t let negative self-talk and or other people’s opinions get in the way of your blogging success!

Ok, let’s now jump into the first step of how to get started blogging! 

Step 1 – Choose a Blog Niche

A blog niche is the main topic you’re blogging about, like a keto blog. There’re also broader blog niches like lifestyle blogs which write about several topics on one blog. 

Coming up with ideas for your blog can feel very overwhelming. It’s easy to get stuck because you’re worried about making the wrong decision. I know it because I’ve been there and I feel you!

But please don’t get stuck choosing your niche before you even start. You can still change your niche or start a second blog. 

Nothing is final here, I promise.  

CAN ALL BLOG NICHES MAKE MONEY?

Truth be told, I think yes. Honestly, I’ve seen the most incredible blogs make money – you wouldn’t believe it. 

Here’s a remarkable story about Danira Cancinos – This single mom made $126,000 in a year from an online caramel-apple-making course. If that isn’t a cool niche, then I don’t know what is. 

I believe that as long as you’re passionate about a topic and you’re able to solve a problem for your audience, you can make an income from your blog.

Alright, here’s a list of my favorite profitable blogging niches that have already been proven to work for other people to get your creative juices flowing: 

• Food 
• Beauty & Fashion 
• Money, Finance & Investing
• Lifestyle
• Blogging about Blogging
• Pets
• Moms + Parenting 
• Travel
• Health, Fitness & Nutrition
• DIY + Crafts
• Home Decor
• Education
• Tech

Alright, feeling inspired and ready to go?

Let’s get down to business finding your profitable blog niche now. So how can you come up with your own awesome blog niche idea?

MY EASY 4-STEP-FORMULA FOR FINDING YOUR PROFITABLE BLOG NICHE 

Your Expertise + Solving a Problem + Interested People + Product Opportunities  =  Profitable Blog Niche

1 It’s important to start a blog in a niche you feel you have expertise in and you like to talk about. No need at all to have a university degree in it. But choose a topic you’re knowledgeable in. 

1. Your blog should create valuable content for your audience. Solving problems, or inspiring people will create fans who come back and ultimately pay for a solution to their problem. 
2. Do some research and find out if people are actually interested in your niche idea. If yes, great! It means people care about the subject. Where do these people hang out? Get to know them and their problems. 
3. If you find it easy to think of a product you could create in your niche, one that could make your audience’s life easier and better, it’s probably a good idea to start a blog in that niche. 

But again, please don’t get stuck here. The most important thing is that you just dive in and get going. 

Ready for Step No. 2? Great, let’s do this!

Step 2 – How to Start a Blog 

Alright, right about now you might be asking…

WHAT DO I NEED TO START A BLOG? 

Brilliant question.

To start a blog, you need 3 things!

I call them the “3 Pillars of a Blog,” and I love to use the analogy of a house, your land, and your address to simplify this. Have a look at this: 

1. Content Management System (CMS) aka HOUSE

Your blog, a.k.a your house, is the home to all of our blog posts, your products, and it’s where you’ll spend a lot of time creating and doing the actual work. In blogging terms, your house is your Content Management System (your blogging platform). We’re going to use WordPress.org for this, which is FREE!

Software to use ->  WordPress.ORG

Over 90% of all blogs worldwide run on WordPress.org. 

It’s the best blogging platform. Period. 

(Also, please don’t confuse WordPress.org with WordPress.com like I did when I started blogging. You can read all about that mess and how it cost me 6 months of work here: WordPress.com vs. Wordpres.org Difference)

2. Host aka LAND

So, the land your blog is built on is called a host. A blog host provides space (your land) on their server to store your blog and information. Hosting with Bluehost starts at about $2.95-$6.99/month, but it’s so worth it. 

3. Domain aka ADDRESS

Your blog needs an online address so people can find you, and this is called a DOMAIN. Your domain is the blog URL that you can give to someone so they can come over and sip on a virtual glass of Rosé with you. 

HOW TO START A BLOG FOR FREE? 

But, wait a minute, does this mean you actually have to pay to start blogging? Alright, let’s be real for a second, and let me set the record straight on FREE vs. PAID blogging. 

Yup, to start a blog, you need to pay a small hosting fee to Bluehost (starting at $2.95-$6.99/month). And it’s 100% worth it!

Here’s why…

2 years ago, I started my first blog. I was totally confused and overwhelmed, but eventually found WordPress. com and started a FREE blog. 

Fast forward six months. I got more and more obsessed with blogging. At the same time, I got more and more frustrated with the platform. I compared my blog to other blogs and just couldn’t make mine look like I wanted it to. 

One day I met a friend who studied I.T. at Starbucks and shared my blog problems! He explained that the free software I used (WordPress. com) would never get me where I wanted to!

I started to sob at Starbucks!

I spent six months working furiously on my new website to find out I couldn’t make it work! Long story short, I decided to cut my losses and move it all to WordPress.org, which my friend recommended!

Please don’t make the same mistake! Here’s what you need to know:

• WordPress.org is “the real WordPress” everyone is talking about. You need to pay for your hosting, but it’s super affordable.
• WordPress. com is where you can start a free blog. But it’s not self-hosted, and you don’t own the blog.

On a free WordPress. com blog, you CAN’T*: 

• Install and use plugins 
• Use ads to make money from your blog
• Open an online store next to your blog
• Customize those themes, and you CAN’T upload a theme you purchased
• You can’t create a membership site 
• And more…

(*to use any of the above, you must upgrade. Upgrade costs range from $300-$540/year).

PLEASE DON’T START A FREE BLOG.

It’s a waste of your time and energy. Instead, invest in yourself and your dream. You deserve it!

You can start a blog and get hosting with Bluehost starts at about $2.95-$6.99/month

HOW MUCH DOES A BLOG COST? 

You can start a blog for less than $5/month!

Yup, that’s less than a small Latte at Starbucks. (At least where I leave yikes!). Let me give you a quick rundown on the numbers: 

• $2.75/month (paid annually) – Bluehost Hosting
• Free (for the first year) – Bluehost Domain 
• Free (forever) – WordPress.org Blogging Platform

Other costs include a custom theme or email marketing services, but you don’t need that to start a blog. 

Again, I genuinely think you deserve to get the blog of your dreams. So please, make this investment in yourself.

Now, are you ready to get started? I know, I am! So let’s jump into the setup tutorial. And don’t worry, this is going to be easy and step by step. You got this! 

1. TRUY CẬP VÀO BLUEHOST   <<< TẠI ĐÂY>>>  VÀ LÀM THEO HƯỚNG DẪN BÊN DƯỚI!

2. ONCE YOU LAND ON THE PAGE, CLICK THE “GET STARTED” BUTTON. 

3. CHỌN GÓI GIÁ CỦA BẠN.

Hiện tại,  Gói cơ bản với giá 2,95 đô la là hoàn hảo.  Nhấn chọn.

4. CREATE A “NEW DOMAIN” OR REGISTER AN “EXISTING DOMAIN” (IF YOU ALREADY OWN A URL).

Then click next.

A domain, as I mentioned earlier, is the name and address of your blog. 

So here is an example. My website is called “mmotrends.com.” And my domain (my blog URL) is mmotrends.com . I bought this domain/URL and I own it now.

With Bluehost, your domain is free for the first year, which is incredible. 

Type in the domain name you want to create into the “Create a new domain” section. If it’s available, it will say successful, and you can go on to the next step. If someone else is already using this domain, please choose a different name for your blog. 

5. OK, NOW IT’S TIME TO CREATE YOUR NEW BLUEHOST ACCOUNT. FILL OUT THE FORM WITH YOUR “ACCOUNT INFORMATION.” 

6. AFTER THAT, YOU CAN CHOOSE YOUR “PACKAGE INFORMATION.” 

Your account plan is how long you want to pay for hosting.

The price of your plan will vary depending on the timeframe you choose. The longer you commit to Bluehost hosting , the cheaper you will get overall. For example:

• 12 months = $5.45/mo.
• > 36 months $2.95/mo.

It’s ok to choose the 12 months here if that’s what’s right for you. If you believe in yourself and your blog, you can also commit to a longer timeframe and get a better deal. 

7. NOW SCROLL FURTHER DOWN AND CHOOSE YOUR “PACKAGE EXTRAS.”

You can uncheck everything here if you want to. You’ll still be able to start a blog.

I do actually think the following two additional services are great (if it’s possible for you financially. Otherwise, again, no worries, you can still start your blog):

• Domain Privacy and Protection – By adding Domain Privacy + Protection, you protect your domain against hijacking and malicious transfer.
• Sitelock Security – Sitelock provides protection to your website from malicious attacks, spammers, and hackers. 

(I once had to pay a programmer $1000 to save my blog because it got hacked by someone in eastern Europe. They started to use my domain to sell prescription drugs under my name (no joke – it was terrible)!)

So if you have the means, make sure you protect your site! 

8. ALRIGHT, NOW ENTER YOUR CREDIT CARD INFORMATION INTO THE “PAYMENT INFORMATION” SECTION.

Agree to the terms and then press “Submit”.

Now that we’ve got 2 out of our 3 blog pillars, let’s finish this strong and set up WordPress. 

9. NOW INSTALL WORDPRESS INSIDE BLUEHOST.

We now want to create your account. Press “Create your Account” and choose a password.

Now install WordPress inside Bluehost. Choose a password and agree to the Terms and Services.

You’ve successfully set up your Bluehost account now. Press “Go to login”. Then log into your account again using the password you’ve just created.

Now, we’re going to install WordPress. Please press “Create your website.”

Bluehost will ask, “When it comes to building your site, how much help do you want” You can skip this step and the following questions and just press “Skip This Step” again.

Until you come to the following page:

Please choose the WordPress builder here! Press “Get started,” then again press “Skip this Step.”

10. FINALLY, WE’RE GOING TO INSTALL WORDPRESS.

You can choose a free theme here that will determine the design of your blog. Just choose one, and don’t spend too much time thinking about the design right now. 

You can change the theme at any point later.  I’m going to talk about the design of your blog in Step 4 of this post. So don’t worry about this right now, and just choose a theme that speaks to you. 

Click “Use this Theme.” 

This will take a few minutes as Bluehost is now installing WordPress for you, so grab a cup of coffee and then come back here. 

BOOM, and you’re redirected to WordPress!

How to Log-In to Bluehost + WordPress?

Được rồi, chúng ta đã sẵn sàng để bắt đầu viết blog nhưng trước tiên, hãy để tôi đảm bảo rằng bạn có thể đăng nhập vào blog của mình vào lần tới khi bạn muốn làm việc trên đó. 

There’re two ways to access the backend of your blog (aka WordPress.org) 

First, you can use the email and password you created earlier to log into Bluehost here. From there, you can access WordPress from the Home Dashboard. Simply Press login to WordPress. Or…

Or second, you can directly access WordPress (which is what I recommend). Going forward, simply login to your site by going to the following address. First, type in your URL and then add the /wp-admin. This will lead you to your login page. 

(P.s. Make sure your domain name is activated. You should have received an activation email. If not, log into Bluehost and go to domains. YOu can request them to re-send the verification email. Try again to log into WordPress.)

yourdomainnamehere.com/wp-admin/

Bước 3 – Làm quen với WordPress 

Ok, I’m seriously proud of you for setting up your brand new blog! Kudos to you. 

Now it’s time to get familiar with WordPress.

WordPress is the blogging tool you’ll use to create your post, design your blog and do all your SEO, so people actually find you. 

You’ll spend a lot of time here, so I actually recommend you get to know WordPress a little bit before you jump straight into creating your first post. I promise WordPress is easier than you think. 

But for sure it’s a new software you first need to get to know.  So don’t stress yourself out. Just take it one step at a time. 

I’m going to walk you through the most important features real quick so you can get started right away. 

If you’re still struggling with WordPress after this section, then please check out my WordPress course for beginners. I walk you through all the ins and outs of WordPress in more than 30+ mini video tutorials.

POSTS 

Phần quan trọng nhất của blog của bạn là nội dung của bạn, còn gọi là bài đăng trên blog của bạn. 

You can create your post directly inside of WordPress. Or you can use a Google Doc to write your post and then copy and paste it into the new post. Do what works best for you. 

Here’s how to create a blog post in WordPress:

To start a new post, press the “Add New” section. 

Now create your post. Simply click inside the white area and add your titles, text, images, graphs, and videos to create a post. 

Once finished writing, create and choose a category such as “recipes” or “home decor” or whatever fits your blog. Then add a featured image. 

Before you publish, you want to make sure that you’re optimizing your post for SEO. So that your posts show up on Google. For this, add a relevant keyword and a meta description. 

Press “Publish” to make your post go live on your blog

You can find a list of all your blog posts if you go to the “All Posts” section. 

What Should You Write About?

Your blog posts are the bread and butter of your blogging business! I can’t stress this enough. 

Please don’t feel like you have to create 100 blog posts to become a successful blogger. If you create 10 really high-quality posts, that’s a fantastic start. 

Create posts that are relevant, helpful, cover every angle, and have the reader in mind.  Quality over quantity, my friend!

Here are some content ideas that usually work great: 

• How-to posts
  • E.g., How to train your dog to stop barking at the pizza delivery guy 
  • E.g., How to organize your Fridge – The Home Edit Inspired
• List posts
  • E.g., 7 Ways to get your front porch fall-ready
  • E.g., The 10 best keto recipes of 2022
• Recipe posts
  • E.g., The ultimate peach cobbler recipe 
  • E.g. My deliciously juicy vegan nut loaf – perfect for Christmas
• Tutorials
  • E.g., Step by step guide to turning your garage into a kick-ass home cinema
  • E.g. My foolproof recipe for poaching the perfect egg
• Reviews
  • E.g., The ultimate iPhone 13 pro review – The pros and the no’s
  • E.g., Netflix vs. Disney plus – What’s right for you
• Before and After post
  • E.g., How I lost my baby weight – and kept it off
  • E.g., Our kitchen renovation story – before and after

If you need more help writing your new blog posts this video could help:

MEDIA

Inside your media library, you can find all the photos, videos, PDFs, and other files you uploaded to a blog post, page, or your blog saved in one place. 

PAGES 

Pages and posts look very similar in WordPress, but they have a slightly different purpose. You want to create a page instead of a post to provide information that doesn’t change a lot. 

Examples of blog pages are: 

• About Me Page
• Contact Page
• Services and Pricing 
• Legal Pages 

 YES, I WANT IN!

PLUGINS

WordPress plugins are additional software that enables more functions on your blog. 

Just download, install and activate the plugin and then the additional function or feature is added to your blog – cool, right! There’s a plugin for everything, and the great thing is that most of them are free! 

Here’s a shortlist of Plugins I use on my blog:

• Yoast SEO (Free)
• Insert Header and Footer (Free)
• Disqus Comments (Free)
• Jetpack – Google Analytics (Free)
• Tasty Pins (Paid) 
• Cây Milo  (Trả tiền)
• Shortpixel (Paid) 
• UpdraftPlus (Paid)

Under the “User” tab, you can create different user accounts. 

USERS 

Maybe you’re starting your blog with your best friend, then each of you can create a separate user and a password to log in. 

Later in your blogger journey, you may want to hire a virtual assistant, a programmer, a developer, or other people to help you with your blog. 

You can set up a user role for each person and decide how many rights each of them has to move around and change things on your website. 

If you’re still struggling with WordPress after this section, then please check out my WordPress course for beginners. I walk you through all the ins and outs of WordPress in more than 30+ mini video tutorials. Check out The WordPress Studio here for more info!

Step 4 – Install a Theme + Design your Blog

Now that we’re done with getting to know WordPress, we can focus on our blog design. Yey, one of the most fun parts of being a blogger. 

Your blog theme determines the design and looks of your site. You can customize your theme so it matches your branding and business. There’re free WP themes you can start with, or you can purchase a professionally designed theme. 

To install a free theme, follow this path in WP:

• Appearance > Themes > Choose a Free Theme “Press Activate”

You can always switch from a free theme to a paid theme later. And there is no reason why you can’t have a successful, money-making blog on a free theme. 

 FREE DOWNLOAD HERE

But yes, the truth is, I do prefer a paid theme. They are created by professional designers and are optimized for Google and mobile, and they save you so much time. And yes, I’m a sucker for beautiful designs.

But, designing your blog can quickly turn into a mammoth task, so it’s totally ok to get help here. Paid themes usually start at $60 for a fully optimized theme. 

To install a paid theme, follow this path in WP:

• Appearance > Themes > Upload > Upload Theme > Choose file > Add Zip file > Upload your Theme

Themes I love and can recommend are: 

• Victoria Theme by BluChic.
• Genesis Framework 
• Avada Theme 
• Divi Theme 
• Themeforest and many, many more.

Step 5 – Build Traffic 

After you’ve set up your blog and created your first couple of posts, it’s time to get some people over to your blog. When I started blogging, I thought that people would just magically show up once I hit that publish button. 

Well, they didn’t – it was a cricket party! 

The thing is – if you don’t tell people that your website exists, how are they supposed to find your amazing content? 

You have to show up online and market your post to people on Google, social media, and forums. If you don’t link to your site anywhere, no one will even know your blog exists. But I got you covered! 

Here are my favorite two ways to grow the traffic to your blog. Blog traffic simply means the number of people who visit your site per day. 

PINTEREST 

Hands down, my favorite place to grow the traffic to my blog is on Pinterest. Pinterest is a mix between social media and a search engine. This means that people love to hang around on Pinterest and use it to specifically find answers to questions. 

You’ll want to show up with your blog posts on Pinterest. Simply create a Pinterest pin that leads to one of your blog posts. If someone on Pinterest is interested in the topic, they can click the pin and are redirected to your site. 

Pinterest is my passion, and if you want to learn all my secret strategies how to grow your Pinterest account and blog fast, then please check out my YouTube channel here: 

I post new weekly episodes every Tuesday on all things “Pinterest Marketing” that can help you grow your blog.

Here are some of the episodes to get you started: 

• How to Use Pinterest for Beginners
• How to Use Pinterest for Blogging – Explained!
• Pinterest Traffic Strategy for Beginners
• How to Set Up a Pinterest Business Account
• 3 Ways How to Create a Pinterest Pin

GOOGLE + SEO

SEO and Google is where loads of new bloggers get scared. I totally get it. So let’s do this step by step. 

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimizations. It includes strategies like doing keyword research and writing long optimized pieces of the content to rank high on Google. 

So let’s say someone types in a keyword into Google, and boom, your blog post shows up in the search. Then they click on it and land on your site. This is how Google can generate traffic for your blog. 

Now truth bomb! I’m no SEO expert.

But I’ve invested quite the energy, money, and time to learn as much as I can about it. I still don’t particularly enjoy the topic (I’m really selling SEO to you, am I :)) …But I understand its importance to my business.

Ranking high on Google and receiving a ton of organic traffic can mean the difference between succeeding or failing with your blogging business.

Step 6 – Make Money from Your Blog 

I totally get it. You want to make some money from your blog. Same here.

We’re putting an incredible amount of time, energy, and knowledge into creating a blog. And if your content is helping people solve their problems, it’s ok to get paid for your work! 

Here are 3 reasons why it’s crucial to think about how to monetize your blog from the get-go:

1. First of all, you are entitled to earn something if you put valuable content out there, my friend! You are putting hour after hour into creating reader-oriented content and solving a problem for your audience; you deserve to be compensated!
2. Second, if you immediately make money as a Blogger, you’ll be incredibly motivated to keep up the hard work blogging is. 
3. Third, if you make money as a Blogger within the first month of launching your blog, you will be able to use this money to further invest in services and maybe ads to grow your business even further.

You must understand that your blog content (your post and the knowledge you put into them) is what will steer you towards failure or success. 

Please make sure you really focus on creating valuable content first. 

Content that excites and helps people. Once you really understand that it’s all about your audience and not about you, you’re going to have no problem earning money from your blog. 

So here are my favorite ways of making money from your blog: 

• Affiliate Marketing – You can join affiliate networks and recommend products and services on your site. When someone buys a product based on your recommendation, you earn a commission.
• Sell Digital Products – You can create a digital product like templates, courses, ebooks, software, illustrations, or photos and sell them through your site. 
• Ad Income – If you successfully grow the traffic to your blog, you can start earning money from ad networks like Mediavine or AdThrive who’ll put ads on your site. 
• Promote Products & Services – You could use the traffic from your blog to attract potential new customers to your site and promote your services and products. 

Congrats on finishing this “How to Start a Blog Tutorial” and starting your brand new blog! You’re a beast! 

And if you’re more like the “I need to read all the information first kinda gall,” now it’s time to put the reading classed aside and get actually moving. 

Start your new blog by clicking right here to get hosting with Bluehost for less than $3.79/month,

Then jump straight to the 10 step tutorial. 

You got this, my friend!

Now, if you’ve got any questions, I’d love to hear from you in the COMMENTS BELOW!